Automatic lock for elevator-doors.



PATENTED MAY 1o, 1904.

A. B. SEE.

AUTUMATIG LOGKFOR ELBVATOR DOORS.

APPLIUATION PILBDFEB. 23, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

' has been closed.

Patented May 10, 1904;

UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO B. SEE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND WALTER L,TYLER, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC LOCK FOR ELEVATOR-DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,479, dated May 10,1904,

Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,648. (No modell) Toall w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO B. SEE, acitizen of the United States,residing at the city oi' New York, in the borough of Manhattan and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Locks for Elevator-Doors, of which the following' is a full,clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the automatic control of elevators, and hasspecial reference to a system of operation wherein the condition of thedoors at the various landings determines whether the elevator can bemoved or not.

There are various devices in existence `for preventing anelectricallycontrolled elevator' from being started until the door ofthe lande ing opposite which the elevator is standing My invention is animprovement on the known devices of this character intended primarily toavoid the faulty operation ot' the apparatus due to the shrinking orchanging of shape or position of the landingdoor upon which theapparatus is dependent for its operation. The most common form of suchdevice is a bolt mounted vertically near the swinging edge of the door,which when the door is closed springs into a socket in the door-frameand actuates a circuit-controller therein, which thus puts thecontrol-circuit o'f the elevator into operative condition, permitting'the elevator to be moved away from the landing. On the arrival lof thecar at its destined landing the opening of the door at that point againdisables the controlcircuit, preventing further movement of the earuntil the door is closed. It has been 'found in practice that by reasonof the shrinkage or warping of the door, which, in private residencesespecially, is usually of wood, throws the end of the bolt out ofalinement with the socket in the frame, so that when the door is closedthe control-circuit will not be put into operative condition and theele-` vater cannot be moved.V To avoid troubles oiE this character, Ihave resorted to the plan of placing the bolt in a horizontal positionon the door and making it of such length as to extend substantiallyacross its entire face from the hinge edge to the swinging edge 5o andmounting it in suitable bearings iixed to the door in which it may slidefreely toward and away from the vertical side of the doorframe. The boltbeing of metal is not subject to shrinkage, its operative length remainsconstant, and when it enters the cavity or socket in the door-frame italways projects the same distance thereinto and is always certain toactuate the circuit-controller. It may be added that in the shrinking ofa door the 6c hinge edge remains fixed, while the swinging edge drawstoward the hinge edge, thus opening a gap between the swinging edgeandthe doorframe. The Vertical bolt before referred to being placed nearthe swinging edge has a movement due to the shrinkage toward the hinges,and s o gets out of line with its socket, whereas with the bolt arrangedhorizontally, as proposed by me, only the bearing for the bolt which islocated near the 7o swinging edge partakes oi' this movement due toshrinkage, the bolt itsell being unatected.

My invention also comprises a lock to hold the bolt, preventing it frombecoming displaced a'fter it has once acted upon the con- 75trolling-circuit by the closing of the door. This lock is automaticallyreleased when the, car approaches a landing, so that the bolt can bemanually thrown to release the doorand disable the control-circuit.

My invention willbe described more in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation ot part of `anelevator-landing door and door-frame equipped S5 with my improvements.Fig. 2 is a vertical section oiE the door, showing one side ot' theframe in elevation and a portion of theele-y vator-car. Eig. 3 is ahorizontal section through the door and frame, takenjust above thehorizontal bolt. i

A represents a door at a landing in theelevator-shaft It is hung in aframe B, its hinges being assumed to be located at the leftdiand edge.Across the face of the door at about the elevation where the door-knobusually occurs I mount a horizontal bolt O in bearings c and c', fixedto the door and in which it is permitted to slide. The end of the boltadjacent to the swinging edge of the door is beveled off, as shown atc2, like an ordinary doorlatch, and the bolt is acted upon by anexpanding spring 03, interposed between the bearing o and a collar cionthe bolt to normally force the beveled end of the bolt outward, thelimit of such movement being determined by another collar 0"; The boltalso carries a socket c, engaged by the end of a crank (l, pivoted tothe door at ci and adapted to be swung to the left by either of theknobs (Z2 to withdraw the end c2 of the bolt. In the door-frame isarranged a box f, having its front plate flush with the frame andprovided with an opening f', through which the end c2 of the bolt mayenter. In this box is pivoted a spring-actuated circuit-controllingleverg, which is adapted to be struck by the end of the bolt when the latterenters the box and to be moved toward the rear wall of the box thereby.On the rear wall of the box are mounted two metal plates z' and e",forming the terminals of a circuit which may be understood to be thecontrol-circuit of the elevator. These plates are adapted to be bridgedand the circuit therefore closed when thelever g is pressed against themby the bolt C. The corner of the doorframe adjacent i' the opening f isprovided with acurved orinclined surface le, over which the end of thebolt mayride and which forces it inward against the pressure of springc3 when the door is closed. On'the vertical portion of the door-frame,to which the hinges are applied, I mount a vertical-locking-rod o, whichslides at its lower end through a bearing 0 and is there formed withanumber of shoulders 02, graduated in position and facing the end of thebolt C, any one of which will act as a stop for the enf. of the bolt,preventing it from sliding to the left. This rod may be held in itslower position, determined by a collar 03, either by gravity or a spring0*, ii which position it serves as a detent for the bolt. The upper endof rod 0 is connected with a bell-crank p, pivoted at p', and carryingat its opposite end a roller p2, which projects slightly into theelevator-shaft.

The elevator-car is indicated by R, and to an upright portion thereof inthe plane of the roller p2 is fixed a cam 71, adapted to strike theroller and swing it inward when the car passes and while the car. is ata given landing to hold the roller in its depressed or inner positionand the rod 0 consequently elevated from its normal position.

The operation is as follows: When the door is closed and the car distantfrom the landing, the end c2 of rod C is projecting into the casing jand maintaining the control-circuit closed. It is locked in thisposition by the end of rod 0, which stands behind the bolt C andprevents it from being moved to the left by turning the outside knobcl2. When the car approaches a landing, the cam r strikes roller p2 andforces it inward, thus lifting the locking-rod 0 away from the end ofthe bolt C, in which position it is held while the car is at thelanding. The person in the car then turns the knob Z2 and slides thebolt C to the left, which not only unlatches the door, but allowscircuit-controlling lever g to disconnect the two terminals t' and e",and thereby disable the control-circuit of the elevator. The shifting ofpassengers or freight having been made the door must again be closedbefore the car can be started. Having closed the door, the bolt pusheslever g into contact with the circuit -terminals and the car is started.As soon as the cam r leaves the roller p2 the locking-rod lowers to aposition where one of its horizontal shoulders restsupon the end of thebolt, the corresponding vertical shoulder then standing immediatelybehind the end of the bolt and preventing any move- Y ment of the latterto the left. It will be seen that the series of graduated shoulders onthe end of the rod provides for slight inaccuracies of construction oradjustment and at the same time permits the rod to move accurately to alocking position. If the rod had a squared end, it might strike on topof the bolt, and thus fail of its purpose. On the other hand, if the endof the rod was beveled similarly to the end c2 of the bolt it would notbe an eicient lock, since such a cam arrangement would permit either therod or the bolt to move.

- It will be seen that any changing in the width of the door cannotaffect the certainty of operation of the bolt, for its effective lengthremains constant notwithstanding such changes. The elevator having onceleft a landing cannot be interfered with by other would-be passengerswho might try to open a landing-door, since all doors are locked untilthe car arrives at a given landing, when only thel door at that landingcan be opened.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination with anelevator-landing door, of a bolt mounted horizontally thereon andextending approximately across its entire face, a circuit-controller inthe door-frame adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for said boltand means whereby the position of the elevator-car determines thecondition of the lock.

2. The combination with an elevator-landing door, of a bolt mountedhorizontally thereon and extending approximately across its entire face,a circuit-controller in the door-frame adapted to be actuated by saidbolt, a lock for said bolt and means carried by the elevatorcar forcontrolling said lock.

3. The combination with an elevator-landing door, of a bolt mountedhorizontally thereon and extending approximately across its entire face,a circuit-controller in the door-frame adapted to be actuated by saidbolt, a lock for said bolt consisting of a vertical rod adapted to bemoved into and out of position behind IIO tbe bolt, a lever eonneetedwith said rod and series of graduated stops adapted tobe pre- IO a camon the elevator adapted to aetuate the sented to the end of the bolt.

lever. In Witness whereof l subscribe my signature l 4; The combinationWtl an elevator-landing in presence of two Witnesses.

c oor, of a bo t rnounte uorizonta y t lereon f and extendingapproximately across its entire ALONO L SEE face, a circuit-controllerin the door-frame W'itnesses:

adapted to be actuated by said bolt, a lock for FRANK S. OBER,

said bolt consisting of a Vertical rod havinga WALDo M. CHAPINi

